Design for Living (1933)
Design for Living (1933)
MrMidwest
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/8/05
#1Design for Living (1933)
Posted: 1/3/13 at 4:12pm
Good pre-code Lubitsch with Gary Cooper at his handsomest. It was shown on TCM a couple of weeks ago.
Here it is
"The gods who nurse this universe think little of mortals' cares. They sit in crowds on exclusive clouds and laugh at our love affairs. I might have had a real romance if they'd given me a chance. I loved him, but he didn't love me. I wanted him, but he didn't want me. Then the gods had a spree and indulged in another whim. Now he loves me, but I don't love him." - Cole Porter
Updated On: 1/3/13 at 04:12 PM
#2Design for Living (1933)
Posted: 1/3/13 at 4:47pm
I love Lubitsch! I love this movie! I love Miriam Hopkins! I love Gary Cooper. I love Frederic March too.
I wish it were really the three of them doing Noel Coward's play, but, unfortunately, Ben Hecht removed pretty much all of Coward's dialogue. Coward himself quipped that "Only three of my original lines are left in the film, including 'Pass the mustard.’"
Nevertheless, Hecht's dialogue is pretty witty, and the movie is surprisingly sexy and homoerotic. It's a perfect example of the "Lubitsch Touch"--although I prefer Lubitsch's Design for Living, which I rate as my all-time favorite movie.
Ernst Lubitsch, Gary Cooper. Miriam Hopkins, Frederic March
Roscoe
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#2Design for Living (1933)
Posted: 1/3/13 at 8:37pmThis is not a film I've ever been fond of. About all it has going for it, for me, is the presence of Gary Cooper and Fredric March at the height of their respective beauty. My God -- is there anyone more magnificent than Gary Cooper?
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
MrMidwest
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/8/05
#3Design for Living (1933)
Posted: 1/3/13 at 8:44pm
"The gods who nurse this universe think little of mortals' cares. They sit in crowds on exclusive clouds and laugh at our love affairs. I might have had a real romance if they'd given me a chance. I loved him, but he didn't love me. I wanted him, but he didn't want me. Then the gods had a spree and indulged in another whim. Now he loves me, but I don't love him." - Cole Porter
nmartin
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/3/05
#4Design for Living (1933)
Posted: 1/3/13 at 8:53pm
Anything with Miriam Hopkins is worth a look and this is worth more than one, as are The Old Maid, Old Acquaintance, and The Story of Temple Drake.
Updated On: 1/3/13 at 08:53 PM
Videos